


Eternal Optimism

by ducky



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 13:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10697658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ducky/pseuds/ducky
Summary: On the night before the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy set out to fight Thanos, Scott Lang and Stephen Strange have a little conversation about the inevitable.





	Eternal Optimism

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quakethirteen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quakethirteen/gifts).
  * Inspired by [I Remain A Rock](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10537356) by [quakethirteen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quakethirteen/pseuds/quakethirteen). 



> I debated about putting this in my Strange/Lang drabble fic, Quantum Entanglement, but this was inspired more by quakethirteen's work, "I Remain A Rock", so I chose to keep it separate. Besides, the timeline's all wrong if I added it to QE.

“Mind if I sit here?” Came a friendly voice from behind. Stephen Strange's meditation had been interrupted, and he sighed, moving a little to accommodate the newcomer.

 

“Scott Lang, was it?” He asks, quirking a brow at the man who had sat beside him.

 

“Yup. Ant-Man. That's me.” He chuckles, taking a bite out of shawarma (Tony insisted if anything, it should be their last meal.). “Tiniest Avenger. Well, technically, I'm not an Avenger, but... Yeah.”

 

Stephen only glanced at him, before turning his attention skyward.

 

“Big universe out there, I guess?”

 

“Infinitely. I have seen worlds and dimensions of immense scale and wonder, and I've barely scratched the surface.”

 

“Kinda makes me feel small, I mean... I'm already small, but---” Scott stopped himself, Stephen was already looking at him with what he thought was a disinterested expression. “What are they like? These worlds and dimensions?”

 

Stephen's expression softened, lifting his gaze back skyward. Scott follows his gaze.

 

“Endless. There are worlds and dimensions far beyond one's imagination. The physical plane alone is vast, reaching out to the far corners of the galaxy, but beyond that, there is more. Realms of spirit and astral consciousness. Dimensions and gateways to the deepest of one's subconscious. Worlds without time, or any meaning comprehensible by our mortal existence.”

 

Scott watched him, eyes glimmering in the night. The more Stephen Strange spoke, the more he was filled with wonder. A smile draws on his face as he laid down on the grass. “Makes one think about their place in the universe.... Rather, multiverse. I've only ever been to one of those strange and wonderful dimensions you were talking about.”

 

It was Stephen's turn to be curious. “You have?”

 

“They called it the quantum realm. I can get there when I go subatomic. Tinier than the tiniest particles of this reality.”

 

The sorcerer shifted in his seat, watching Scott Lang with a curious expression. “And what was it like?”

 

“I... I can't really remember.”

 

“How convenient.”

 

“No!” Scott sat up immediately. “I really can't. I didn't actually mean to get in there, and it was a fluke that I got out. I mean, I think, without any magic mumbo-jumbo, us Muggles can't get out of there alive.”

 

“.... You said...”

 

“Yeah, I said Muggles.” Scott sighed, shaking his head. “Anyway, so I go subatomic, right? Everything was a blur: color, sound--- It was like being pulled from one reality to another, not knowing what was going on.”

 

Stephen blinked, recalling that day he rebuked The Ancient One's proposition that there are realms beyond the physical. The ageless sorcerer had pushed his consciousness out, giving him a tour of different dimensions, different states of being. He recalled being transformed into pure light, twisting and turning, he recalled being deconstructed into ego and id. Into being and unbeing, disintegrated, warped, disfigured, and rebuilt. He recalls floating into calm voids, and being hurled into turbulent realities. He stared at Scott.

 

“Okay, that's scaring me, Doc.”

 

“You entered a dimension beyond the tiniest gaps that make up our reality? How did you get back without a sling ring?”

 

“A what?”

 

Stephen holds up his, golden, with ornate engravings. “A sling ring. It's a device we sorcerers use to create portals to different places or dimensions.”

 

Scott reaches out to touch it out of curiosity, but Stephen immediately puts it back in his pocket for safekeeping. He raises his brow at Scott, exuding a curious glance.

 

Scott takes a deep breath. “I guess something was tying me to...” He makes a gesture, pointing around. “... _ **here**_. This reality. The most I remember was hearing my daughter's voice, and she's _**crying**_ , looking for me, telling me to come back...”

 

Scott lets out an exasperated, self-mocking chuckle, then looked at the ground. Stephen watches him closely, sensing that Scott had perhaps some regrets.

 

“...And I hung onto that, you know. That's what we do. You just cling to that hope, that _**little glimmer of possibility**_. That you can see her again. That you can find your way back, no matter how _**tiny**_ , or _**insignificant,**_ or _**lost you are in this universe**_.”

 

_'All I need is possible.'_

_'Tiny, momentary specks within an indifferent universe.'_

 

It was then that Stephen Strange thought that perhaps there was more to Scott Lang than meets the eye.

 

“Why are you here, then?” asks Stephen. “You know your daughter might lose you.”

 

“I dunno.” Scott shrugs. “Maybe because, I always wanted to prove myself? Maybe because I make bad decisions. Maybe because I know I can do something about it. Maybe because I've been given the chance to be something other than who I was before the suit.”

 

There was silence between them. Scott hears laughing from afar. Apparently the kid known as Peter Parker had made a joke, and the others have found it funny.

 

“Look at that kid.” Stephen began, watching as Stark had begun talking over Peter, seemingly embarassed over something the teenager had said. “He's here as well. He seems too young for this, but he's here, doing his part.”

 

“I heard he lost his parents... Guess that's why Stark's taken a liking to him? Brilliant boy, lost his parents...” Scott turned his head, to watch them.

 

“Well, we all gravitate towards someone like _ourselves_.”

 

“Guess that's why I'm sitting here with _you_.”

 

Blue eyes met green, both of them sat there, unspeaking. It was Scott who first broke the silence, buckling in embarassment. “I mean, I'm kinda new too, I've only ever been in one outing with those guys, I don't know them that well---”

 

Stephen found it in him to chuckle. “You are amusing, Mr. Lang. But perhaps you are right, in some ways we are similar. Or rather, I wish we were...”

 

“What do you mean?” Scott turned to him fully, bunching up his knees and resting his chin above his arms.

 

“There is no guarantee we'll all make it tomorrow. There is no guarantee that all of us will find our way back. For all we know, we could all be adrift in the abyss, lost amongst the insignificant.” Stephen's hands slightly tremble at the thought, as he let out a sigh. “I wish I had your seemingly eternal optimism.”

 

“I'm scared.” Says Scott. “I've never been more scared in my life. I'll never see Cassie again if I don't make it. But if I don't help out... That's gonna be one less man standing between her and death.”

 

“Are you afraid of death, Scott Lang?”

 

“Are _**you**_?” Scott returned the question. “I mean, I'm afraid I won't come back. I'm afraid I'm going to die not making things right. I'm afraid I won't get to see my daughter grow up right before my eyes. I'm afraid of the lost time I will never, ever, get back... But forget about us, one strike from Thanos, and I'm a literal goner... I'm gonna die out there. But you... Are you afraid he's going to beat someone with powers like yours?”

 

The question lingered in Stephen Strange's mind: was he afraid of dying at the hands of Thanos?

 

Was he afraid of death?

 

Stephen thought of it: the astronomical odds of survival. And indeed, in waging his war against the defenders of Earth, Thanos intends to present Death with gifts, trophies of worthy foes. It seemed now that, their mission was an exercise in futility.

 

“I am afraid... That we would fail.” He lets out a shaky breath he did not know he was holding. “That our resistance, our struggle is futile in the face of the Mad Titan.”

 

“Then, I guess that's what I'm afraid of too. Failure. Not death.”

 

“Scott...”

 

“It becomes easier to be positive about, though. I mean, we're all gonna die eventually. But as long as someone stands in his way, we have a fighting chance to not fail.” He smiles at Stephen, placing his hand on the sorcerer's shoulder. He lingered there, meeting his gaze. Stephen saw determination in Scott's eyes, but his hand shook in fear.

 

Scott then stood, stretching his legs and arms. “Besides, I promised that after all this, I'm going to hug Cassie so tight, and we're going to Disneyworld.”

 

Stephen thought Scott's opinion was optimistic to a fault, but he saw the value in it: all of them gathered here today were ready to lay down their lives to keep a greater threat at bay. All of them facing the unknown, not knowing if they could ever return, or if they would ever be the same if they did.

 

But perhaps clinging onto the tiniest possibility was the only resort. Something that would anchor them back beyond the abyss of their doomed destinies, a glimmer of what they were fighting for.

 

Something they could come home to.

 


End file.
